Author: mjcd4b

June 5th, 2007. If you can get past Manson’s pretentious attitude, and dreary aesthetic, then you will be presented with some of the more interesting sounding Alternative-Rock. Obviously this is a big ask. Manson’s music is meant for everyone so if you don’t think you can put up with Marilyn Manson the character then feel free to skip this album. For those that are patient enough to overlook the facade, you will not be sorry.

Worth Listening To:

Excellent Italian Greyhound – Shellac

June 5th, 2007. While the jury might still be out on whether or not the music on Excellent Italian Greyhound is enjoyable to listen to, it does present some interesting ideas and concepts about music that fans of complicated sounds will enjoy. Spoken word lyrics, distorted guitars, and a set of drums are about the only parts of this album that seem conventional.

Epiphany – T-Pain

June 5th, 2007. Much like the songs on this album, most listeners will find this album as a hit or miss. The production on this album is great and the actual music is fun to listen to and meant to be played at clubs and parties, but the lyrics are laughably bad for the majority of the album. The question listeners will have to ask themselves is: How ridiculous do the lyrics have to be before I stop listening? Unfortunately that is something each person will have to answer on their own.

June 4th, 2007. This album album is too often overlooked when people discuss good alternative rock albums from the mid-2000s. Perhaps it’s becausePuzzle doesn’t really provide anything that was different for the genre or for the time, but it is also stacked with great songs such as Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies which is also too often overlooked. Far from perfect but definitely worth listening to.

Worth Listening To:

Memory Almost Full – Paul McCartney

June 4th, 2007. For any of those unbelievers, the ones that say Paul McCartney cant write songs anymore, I recommend you listen to Memory Almost Full. The album is filled with emotion and it sounds like Paul is enjoying himself and the music he makes on this album. There’s definitely some missteps on this album, but listening to a musician enjoy what he creates like McCartney does is just infectious and makes the album that much more enjoyable.

Skip These:

Ghost Opera – Kamelot

June 4th, 2007. While the mid-00’s were filled with some great punk and metal bands there were some equally terrible ones trying to ride the wave into stardom. Kamelot is one of those bands. While I did find one song that I liked (The Human Stain), and I can appreciate the endeavor to combine orchestral and metal music, I’m just immediately turned off by the aesthetic which seems incredibly fake and an attempt to appeal to certain types of people who are extremely negative.

Systematic Chaos – Dream Theater

June 4th, 2007. Every complaint I had about Ghost Opera I had for this album which I couldn’t even make it all the way through. At least Kamelot was trying to combine different styles of music, this album just seemed lazy to me. I swear I like metal, but this album just rubbed me the wrong way.

June 3rd, 1977. Perhaps Bob Marley’s most popular album, don’t let the laid back sounds on this album fool you, Exodus is filled with politically charged statements and religious references. Marley calls for the good in people in order to push the world further. Whether or not his hope is misplaced is something that can only be answered as time passes.

Worth Listening To:

Wu-Tang Forever – Wu-Tang Clan

June 3rd, 1997. The Wu’s follow up to the critically acclaimed Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is packed to the brim with content, which is it’s biggest upside and it’s biggest flaw. At over 111 minutes long people who love Wu-Tang Clan continuous verbal hits are in for a hell of a time, but for the average person it is way to much music for a single album. Many listeners will find themselves zoning in and out of this great music because it can be exhausting to listen to.

Gospel Oak – Sinéad O’Connor

June 3rd, 1997. A pretty interesting collection of Folksy songs. There’s not really anything fancy going on in this album other than it sounds good, and is soothing to listen to.

Album of the Year – Faith No More

June 3rd, 1997. As a whole Album of the Year isn’t great, but there are plenty of great moments and good alternative songs for fans of the genre and the band to take a chance on it. If Faith No More isn’t your type of band then you should probably skip this.

June 2nd, 1987. Whitney Houston’s second album works better if you think of it as a collection of songs rather than as an album. Still the songs on this album are great, and are made so because of Houston’s incredible singing. It also starts off with I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), one of the best pop songs of the 80’s.

Worth Listening To:

Gone Now – Bleachers

June 2nd, 2017. An album filled with potential anthems. There are definitely things to like about Gone Now and the way it attempts to swing for the fences on every song. Some of the songs are the hits that they are expected to be, but when every attempt is as grandiose as the songs on Gone Now are there are bound to be some stumbles. Still worth listening to if you haven’t yet.

Timeless – Sarah Brightman

June 2nd, 1997. If you are a fan of classical/operatic style singing then this the album for you. Not much else to say other than the singing is wonderful, and the music is relaxing and invigorating at the same time.

Skip These:

Dark Days in Paradise – Gary Moore

June 2nd, 1997. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting from this album but it ended up being a 90’s style hard rock album. I had never heard of Gary Moore before but I hope his other albums are more exciting because I found myself continuously bored by what was happening on here. I’m sure there are people out there that really like this album, so it might be worth listening to, but for the vast majority of people I’d say skip it.

Whitney Houston’s second studio album is known for the hit singles it produced and the records it broke for and achievements it accomplished as the product of a female solo artist. As far as albums go Whitney is not a great one. It doesn’t do anything different from a musical standpoint that would allow it to stand out, nor does it push the limits of album production to new interesting places. Whitney is put together like a random collection of love songs that were being performed by Houston at the time. With all of that being said what makes Whitney stand out amongst other albums from the 80’s is that this collection of love songs is particularly great. From the first moments of I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) to the final moments of the duet performance Houston gives with her mother Cissi Houston on I Know Him So Well listeners are given great music to listen to. Continue reading “Whitney – Whitney Houston”

May 26th, 2017. Originally set for release on June first 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s was released a few days early and has been in the collective consciousness ever since. Many have claimed it to be the greatest album of all time, and maybe they’re right, while others have claimed the album has lost it’s muster, and that it was successful because it was the right album at the right time. Whatever the reason, 50 years after it’s initial release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band still dominates discussions of popular music and it doesn’t seem like that is gonna change anytime soon.

Worth Listening To:

I Robot -The Alan Parsons Project

June 1st, 1977. This album is really good, unfortunately I listened to it on the same day as Sgt. Pepper’s which is a guaranteed AotD. Nevertheless listen to this. It’s a weird little Progressive-Rock album inspired by a fiction series by Issac Anisimov also titled I, Robot. Most of the songs have some real spacey sounds, and there’s a message about what it means to be human in there somewhere. Fans of Pink Flyd should definitely listen to this.\

David Bowie – David Bowie

June 1st, 1967. David Bowie’s first studio album is a weird little collection of Folksy Psychedelic songs. While a far cry from the music on his more successful and popular albums, it is interesting to listen to Bowie on here as he plays with songs and tries to work things out. Fans of Bowie will want to listen to this, as will fans of Psychedelic music. I

Double Trouble – Elvis Presley

June 1st, 1967. Unfortunately Double Trouble is one of Elvis’ weaker albums. There isn’t that much music on here and some of it is so bad that not even The King himself could fix them, including a rendition of Old MacDonald which Elvis stopped recording in the middle of. Fortunately though Elvis’ Rock n’ Roll sound is so good that there are still plenty of songs on here worth listening to.

Originally planned to be released on June 1st, 1967, in the United Kingdom, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released ahead of schedule to a world that was not ready. For nearly half a year Sgt. Pepper’s dominated the public consciousness, selling better than any previous Beatles album had done, and it’s worth mentioning they had all done pretty well. Undeniably an important leap forward in the power, and conceptualizing of albums as more than just a collection of songs. Now musicians could tell stories over an entire album. Thematic elements could carry from song to song, along with the messages. A door had been opened on the day that Sgt. Pepper’s was released, not just for the consumer, but also for the creators, and nobody has looked back since. Continue reading “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles”

Posts navigation

What It’s All About

AoTD is an attempt to listen to all of the good music that was released between 1950 and today, while also writing down a few thoughts about each album. In an attempt to make this more organized I'll only be listening to albums that were released in a year ending with the same number of the current year. Its 2017, so that means years that end in 7's: 2007, 1997, 1987, 1977, 1967, and 1957.

Have any questions, comments, or album suggestions?
E-mail me at: comermichaelj@gmail.com